This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
This module investigates and critically examines the ways in which understandings of race, difference, and belonging have shaped, both historically, and in the contemporary era, multiethnic societies such as Britain and the USA. In what ways do notions of race and racial difference, and contestations over belonging, still matter (or not) in societies today? What forms of competing evidence exist in claims about either the continuing (or declining) significance of 'race' and notions of difference more generally?
Total contact hours: 22
Private study hours: 178
Total study hours: 200
Sociology MA
International Social Policy MA
Criminology MA
Criminology with a term Abroad MA
Methods of Social Research MA
Two year masters versions of the appropriate programmes listed above
Main assessment methods
Coursework – essay (5000 words) – 100%
Reassessment methods
100% coursework.
S. Cornell & D. Hartmann, Ethnicity and Race, Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press 1998
J Feagin Racist America New York: Routledge 2000
P. Gilroy After Empire London: Routledge 2004
T. Modood Multiculturalism Cambridge: Polity Press 2007
A. Nayak Race, Place, and Globalization 2004
J. Solomos Race and Racism in Britain London: Macmillan 1993
J. Solomos & L. Back, Racism and Society Basingstoke: Macmillan 1996
M. Song Choosing Ethnic Identity Cambridge: Polity Press 2003
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
8.1 A knowledge of contemporary discourses and theories about 'race' and ethnicity in Western societies such as Britain and the USA, as well
as the ability to assess the strengths of competing accounts of social change
8.2 A understanding of the various theoretical and empirical understanding of the changing manifestations of racisms – and their limitations
8.3 An ability to articulate the complex relationships between identity formation, discourses about 'race' and ethnicity, and ongoing forms of
inequality and social change
8.4 An understanding of the implications of recent streams of immigration and 'super-diversity' for multi-ethnic Britain and Europe, including a
focus on debates about multiculturalism, citizenship, and belonging
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
9.1 The ability to communicate (orally and written) in a clear and organized way
9.2 The ability to gather relevant information and access key sources by electronic or other means
9.3 The ability to develop argumentation based upon sound reasoning and understanding of the material – and the ability to articulate this in
written form
9.4 The ability to synthesize items of knowledge from different schools and disciplines of enquiry and critically assess policy options
9.5 The ability to gather library and web-based resources appropriate for final year degree study; make judgments about their merits and use the available evidence to construct a critical argument to be presented orally or in writing.
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